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Hair Colour and Skin Type

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Partly inspired by Ele's thread and partly by recent discussion on bad dye jobs, I'm now very curious, as a general rule should cool skin tones stick with cool hair colours and warm skin tones experiment with warmer shades? Or is this too simplistic?

General

26 replies

Latest reply was from Kate

medusa

Veteran

I don't know because I'm not that great with colors, but I suspect it might be simplistic. I've definitely seen women with the mixture (a warm/cool combination) who looked really good.

Kate

Veteran

Yes, it's that simple.

Here are some examples:

winter hair: http://fireiceearthandair.file.....artice.jpg

summer hair: http://fireiceearthandair.file.....artair.jpg

autumn hair: http://fireiceearthandair.file.....tearth.jpg

spring hair: http://fireiceearthandair.file.....rtfire.jpg

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Thanks Kate your links were really useful, I'm trying to decide if I should low light my hair to a similar colour as this
http://www.handbag.com/hair/Br.....ey/gallery
and I'm a summer so I guess it could work?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Great question! I have no idea. I wonder if there are guidelines for this process?

Oh! Yes there are. I'm a Spring - and I do have warm toned hair.

Traci

Veteran

This whole discussion has me seriously considering a haircolor change. Although, I'm wondering if hair color has less impact than clothing color because it's on top of your head instead of under your face? The light bounces off you clothing and changes your coloring a hint, and I don't think the same is true for hair color.

Lana

So Angie, as a spring one of the things I always read is to avoid wearing black and white near your face, but you often wear those colors. Do you think that it's actually ok for springs to wear those colors? Or does it depend more on adding other pops of color and accessories, etc? I've been avoiding those colors (partially just my preference but also the guides) but it'd be good to know if I don't need to avoid them as much as I do.

crazyone

Veteran

not that it would change how I dress very much, since I think I have a decent sense of what colors I look best in already, but I still have really no idea which "season" or category I fit into with these color schemes. I know I'm warm toned, and that's about it. I'd say deep reds and berry tones are my best colors, but there are a bunch of others that look good; whereas chartreuse green and baby pink/blue are probably some of the worst on me.

Thoughts?

Inge

(website)

I've been wondering about the same thing, Julie. So no help from me I'm afraid. But I do think the model's hair colour could work on you;-)

wilson

I'm not a hair stylist or anything so I don't know much about this. My wonderful hair stylist did tell me that as a cooler toned person I cannot wear warm colors on my hair. Even my red (which I assumed all reds were warm) has to be ashy or my skin looks ruddy and my hair looks brassy. I begged and pleaded for a warm red once and she did it and I totally saw what she meant. So there has to be some basic guidelines we can unearth...

marianne

I didn't realize it until recently, when a friend of mine who has very light skin and dark hair (both cool toned) had her hair dyed a reddish-copper brown color, maybe auburn. It looked SO different, and her skin tone really clashed with the hair color. I haven't had the guts to tell her

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Well, Lana. There you go! That's why I take colour analysis with a big pinch of salt :0). I wear black and white well, but I'm sure it's because of the extra attention to detailing – my point entirely.

Here's why I think I make it work (look at my profile picture):

o I always add white or cream close to my face when I wear black - otherwise it's too harsh. Wrote a blog post about that.

o I have peaches and cream skin so my rosy cheeks help create colour.

o I wear lipstick.

o My specs add texture to my face.

o My blonde hair creates an eye catching contrast against the black and picks up the cream and white.

Hope that makes sense.

Kate

Veteran

Traci, the impression I got is that hair color really matters because it surrounds and frames your face, while clothes are usually only on one side (below) and rarely right next to your actual face.

Marianne, a friend of mine (who is a winter) did a similar thing recently and her hair is now a copper color. It looks so awful, and I'm hoping she'll dye it back to its dark cool brown color soon!

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

Angie - so clever. I think that's why colour analysis can help as a tool - when you know nothing (speaking for myself) it helps you by giving you things that do work, and once you're used to things working you can start to find other ways of making them work without sticking rigidly to those rules.

taylor

Veteran

It is much more about skin color....I agree with Angie 1000%
Many things come into play

As in anything it is about finding the right hair color. My hair is a bit warmish for me...but I can pull it off because I change my makeup a bit.

Julie, the color you chose is really pretty and would add alot of depth to your hair and look beautiful against your skin:)

Lana

That makes sense, thanks!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Precisely, Polly! Same goes for body type guidelines.

Glad that makes sense Lana and Taylor. Thanks for the professional opinion, Taylor :0)

Julie, I think we posted at the same time. I like the colour you posted!

taylor

Veteran

I was just going to add that
Plumb is cool, while burgundy is warm...VERY few, if anyone in my opinion looks good in those hair colors. They are very close, almost the same but equally difficult to wear and unattractive on most skin tones.

tarzy

Veteran

All I can add is I've finally realized how important it is to go to a professional for hair color. I was really happy with what my new stylist did this last time. Find someone who has the eye for this kind of thing!

agrace

This is fascinating and I SO see the differences in the colors. I have cool face coloring but warm body coloring - weird I know - but what should I do? My instincts say go with what works with my facial coloring?

Thanks for the links Kate that is so helpful!

Anonymous

According to Kate's charts, my hair color is winter or cool but it used to be warm toned with red highlights. The cool color actually looks better with my warm toned skin. My mom really disliked the naturally reddish hair tones on me and encouraged me to keep it a dark (cooler) non-red brown. I don't believe the color seasons work for everyone.

Maya

Veteran

I am living proof that color analysis is bunk...

What you wear, what your makeup looks like, what lighting you're in...everything makes a difference. In general I think this is a good rule of thumb, but I agree completely with Angie and Taylor. Everyone has their specific considerations.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

There are always exceptions to every rule as Maya and Joy prove. I guess wearing a hair colour which complements your skin tone is flop proof but if you know how to bend the rules you can make any colour work.

I trust Timmy completely with cropping my hair short as he has done it many time before but I have learned to be very specific about my hair colour, hence the question. Going into a salon and asking for brown lowlights may produce a very different outcome than the more specific mid tone cool brown lowlights.

Kristine

Veteran

I agree, I think it's individual. I have a warm skin tone and while my hair is naturally reddish, I think cool brown looks better. In my case it seems to balance out the warmth and makes my skin more ivory instead of ruddy. I don't color it now, but if I did I would go cool versus warm.

Mac

Veteran

I love colour analysis... as a "jumping off point." I am absolutely, without a doubt, an autumn; deep browns and burnt oranges are terrific against my skin. But I think the joy I can feel wearing my charcoal gray can outweigh the fact it's not one of "my" colours. I believe that almost always, happiness trumps every style rule : ).

Maya

Veteran

I think when you are absolutely, without a doubt, a stereotypical color season, then it might work as a jumping off point. A lot of people, however, do not. I am one of those people.

According to this, I am a winter:

http://www.colormebeautiful.com/seasons/index.html

However, just look at the winters they are showing. How can warm Penelope Cruz and cool Elizabeth Taylor be the same? According to their results, everyone with very dark hair supposedly is a winter, which is utter rubbish. I do not have cool coloring at all.

So the only other thing I could be is an autumn, since summer and spring are clearly too light. However, the autumn color palette is hideous on me.

Kate

Veteran

I agree that color analysis doesn't work for everyone. This is especially true for women who aren't Caucasian. While Carole Jackson talks about black and "oriental" women in her book, she is clearly catering to white women and really hasn't thought about color analysis for the whole range of skin tones out there.

This webpage begins to address that: http://www.thechicfashionista......asons.html and I'm sure there are others I'm not aware of.